At first, I was disappointed. Then I heard former Cy Young winner Cliff Lee was involved, so that cheered me up a little bit. But then I found out that Lee was going to Seattle, not Toronto.

No, the Blue Jays were getting a bunch of prospects I’ve never head of before.

This always seems to be the case with the Blue Jays. They don’t trade for major players anymore. They trade for prospects, and sign bit players when their best seasons have passed them by.

I understand the Jays needed to trade Halladay. It’s a business, and Halladay hinted that he wouldn’t resign with the Blue Jays.

But they couldn’t get a superstar, or at least an all-star, in return?

There’s no way they’ll make the playoffs at this rate. Yes, it’s difficult to match up against the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, with the way that they spend money. But the Jays need to be able to compete with that at some level, whether it be getting one or two superstars to shore up the lineup, or having a bunch of players who can compete at every level (offence and defence).

Until then, they’ll be stuck battling for third place in their division. And now they’ll have to do it without the best pitcher in the game.

Let me get this straight, you charge the mound, throw your helmet, don't throw a punch and still end up on the bottom of the pile?

Some are things that I will never understand (such as nuclear physics). Others are things I will never want to understand (such as why Sex and the City was so popular).

And then there are things that really confuse me.

Like why do batters charge the mound in baseball when they don’t want to fight?

Rarely do you see a batter and a pitcher square off and actually fight. More often than not, the fight happens after a hitter is beaned. The hitter charges out, bullpens clear, and nothing really happens.

Look at this recent example. Kevin Youkilis of the Boston Red Sox is hit by a pitch, charges the mound to fight Rick Porcello of the Detroit Tigers, and then proceeds to throw his helmet!

The benches clear, and nothing really happens.

Check out the video for proof.

That’s horrible. Why even charge the mound in the first place? He throws his helmet, for pete’s sake!

The only sport worse is basketball. There, one guy throws a punch, and then the benches clear, but everyone is back pedalling because no one actually wants to fight, but they all want to seem tough.

If you’re going to fight, or have a bench-clearing brawl, do it like the NHL.

Rios, who makes about $6.4 million a year, is hitting .267 and had 27 RBIs in 56 games. This was puncuated by a 0 for 5 night last week. Not just 0 for 5, but every one of those was a strikeout.

So fans are on him a bit. I get that. But if you make that much money, be prepared for scorn when you don’t perform well. As long as you treat the fans well, don’t act like a putz and give an effort, most fans will recognize that.

But if you are rude to the fans, then they’ll take it out on you back.

So after his bad game last week, Rios went to a charity event. On the way out, a young fan asked Rios for an autograph. Rios didn’t even slow down, ignored the kid, and kept walking.

That’s when another fan yelled out something among the lines of “Hey Rios, you should be thankful anyone wants your autograph the way you’ve been playing.” Rios responded with a couple of f-bombs, and blasted into this guy.

So let’s review:

• Treat the fans well? Nope.

• Give an effort? Nope.

• Act like a putz? Check.

Well, at least Alex is 1 for 3, which is better than his batting average.